Entrepreneurial Engine: Small Business, the Economic Backbone!
Published February 28, 2010 | 
“Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” –Peter Drucker
In a nation of Entrepreneurs like the United States and other global markets, Entrepreneurs and Small Business make up the backbone of the global economies, and they will be the ones who create economic growth, associated increases in wealth, and the real lasting jobs to bring the global economy out of the recession. So when looking at entrepreneurs and their inherent strategies it must be noted that some strategies are purely deliberate and some strategies purely evolve with the market and new opportunities from the birth of new industries and technologies. Of course, the real world, inevitably, involves some blending of thinking and planning ahead as well as some real-time adaptation along the way, as Entrepreneurs look to strategically develop and evolve their ideas to fill identified voids and problems in the market.
Entrepreneurial innovation has never been part of the institutionalized systems and of large corporations with labor unions, and never will be. Systems and organizations that stifle creativity and innovation have never been able to reproduce the thoughts and passions of genius entrepreneurs, or even the most ordinary competent strategist, and in almost all cases never will, and large systems, processes, and especially the labor unions aren’t designed to encourage the creative and innovative thinking that comes from the passions, of true independent innovative entrepreneurs.
So when we examine the requirements of entrepreneurship we know that good entrepreneurial management is part of the formula along with real entrepreneurial strategies, and the strategies for entrepreneurial success are 
few and simple, but yet difficult, since it takes a true independent Entrepreneur to identify the real opportunities which present themselves, especially during times of recession and lifeless economies, and recognition of market trends and conditions that create new opportunities is one of the strongest traits that identifies the true entrepreneurs. Additional traits of entrepreneurs are innovativeness and creativity, a willingness to take risk for their new ideas and innovations, and the ability to anticipate future needs and problems, willingness to work independently with self-direction, and a strong sense of competitiveness that comes from the passion inherent to the entrepreneurial spirit that’s at the core of the backbone of economic engines.
At the very heart and essence of entrepreneurship is innovation, which is the effort to create purposeful and focused change in economic or social potential, which includes three kinds of innovation. The first kind of innovation is “technological innovation” which is innovation including new products, ideas, and technologies. The next kind of innovation is “economic innovation” which includes entrepreneurship and turning those things into new businesses and industries, and finally, “cultural and social innovations” which are the ability to invent new ways of thinking, new art forms, new designs and concepts that identifies trends in the marketplace and associated opportunities.
These different identifiable components of innovation can share the same thought processes of the entrepreneur as they reinforce each other and 
overlap, and many times the genius of the entrepreneur is noticed and identified because they are able to apply all three kinds of innovation at the same time to the same problem or opportunity.
As always, the “Entrepreneurial Engine” that is the economic backbone will eventually spur future economic recovery, but the timing of the recovery is dependent upon what kind of problems or barriers entrepreneurs encounter with systems and institutions, huge U.S. Government intervention and its related regulations and taxes that negatively impact growth and wealth creation results, and that affect how quickly Entrepreneurs can adapt their innovations to the marketplace, which will start to create economic growth and jobs in the U.S. and global economies.
Housing Prices Continue Downword
Published March 31, 2009 |
A question that continues to be asked by millions globally is where and when the “recession” will hit bottom, and the answers are as many as the number of people asking the questions, and either no one wants to be completely honest in their response, due to their private agendas, or for fear of causing panic, but the truth is that there exists natural laws of the market that will determine where the bottom is. Now when the bottom will be hit is a different story, because when there are huge manipulations like the ones currently being engaged by the U.S. and other governments, they only serve to delay the natural flow of events that affect the market.
The market naturally seeks the “real value” of assets over time and for the past approximately 20 years there have been a lot of shenanigans played by the financial market through financial instruments created to be as it turns out, “pseudo-assets” with high risk and potentially no “real value”, except on paper, but as these instruments or “pseudo-assets” were turned over multiple times by players throughout the global finance market, the “asset value” continued to rise, especially in the housing market.
And guess what? When the players including members of the U.S. Congress decided it was a good thing to allow consumers to buy houses without jobs, equity injection, and no proven sources of income, the market really heated up with the real estate “flippers” flipping houses, condominiums, and any other property they could get their hands on left and right. The resulting phenomenal rise in housing prices amazed everyone by zooming into uncharted territory never seen before in locations throughout the world, but especially in the United States, and it seemed like a perfect world for everyone.
However, as with all “house of cards” the weak cards that represented the property owners in over their heads because their real income wasn’t enough to make scheduled mortgage payments, started to fall, slowly at first, and then like a snowball rolling downhill, faster and faster, and it continues to grow even today. Asset values are currently falling at an alarming rate, as the market seeks the natural level of “real value” determined by multiple market factors including supply, demand and other factors.
The level of “asset value” for housing in the U.S. is still about double where it will most likely settle once all factors are considered, and all the measures taken by governments will only extend the time it takes for the market to settle out, and the cost to tax payers will be extreme. Remember, it took a very long time to build the “house of cards”, and for this “perfect storm” of circumstances to develop. So it will take a long time for the market to settle out and right itself, and as long as the players that created the “house of cards” are still in power, manipulating and pulling strings for their handlers and special interest groups, the market will remain troubled and continue to negatively impact the economy.
Finally, what is even more ominous is the fact that commercial real estate has yet to feel the full impact of the market finding the natural level of “asset value” for the commercial sector.
Entrepreneur Nation – The Voices
Published March 12, 2009 |
No one has ever been able to accuse the law makers in the U.S. Congress of ever making good decisions based on solid evidence and common sense, and they seem to have set new standards for decisions that basically slap every U.S. Citizen in the face with the amount of largess they are heaping on constituents and special interest groups throughout the country. What has happened is so frustratingly tragic, especially to the “Entrepreneur Nation” that makes up the backbone of the U.S. economy that one might tend to think they are using the recession as an excuse to spend, spend, spend, since that’s what they normally would do anyway, so the result is “congressional spending on steroids”.
It seems like their goal is to turn the “good old US of A” into the western version of the “socialist state”, or the U.S.S.A., and all on the backs of the country’s Entrepreneur Nation. Don’t they realize this has been tried once before with the “New Deal” and things just got worse when the country slipped into the second great depression (1936) after a wave of business closings and employment reduction as a result of socialist idealism.
It will take the collective voices of Entrepreneur Nation to stand up, speak up, let it be heard and shout out “I’m as mad as HELL, and I’m not going to take this anymore” (1976 Movie Network, Peter Finch). Entrepreneurial groups everywhere need to take stock of how their lives and businesses they have built are being laid siege to, and remind whoever represents them in congress that “no job was ever created by a poor man”, and what the “great spenders” need to focus on is determining how to increase available capital to jump start and grow businesses.
The Washington bureaucrats can’t wait to spend extremely large amounts of money that every American has to pay back for generations, well maybe not every American, since the bureaucrats are also increasing classes of people that have no accountability or responsibility, and therefore can never be expected to pay anything back.
Opportunities are dramatically increasing as the competitive field is being shaken out with businesses that are weak from poor cash flow, and heavy debt load, making room for new entrepreneurs and growth-oriented businesses to move in and capitalize on the opportunities, however, capital is required to take advantage of even the smallest opportunities, and instead of giving funding to projects that won’t even start for several more months, make the funding available to businesses now, and watch the positive results quickly start to build the economy back through job and wealth creation.
Without the capital funding, increases in taxes, fees, and additional costs and expenses related to mandatory government regulations will only serve to extend the cycle of recession the global market is currently experiencing.
The Entrepreneurial Nation needs to stand up, speak with one voice and be heard, and now is the time to start a ground swell of opinion needed to move the bureaucrats to take action and provide the capital needed in a timely manner to start the economic recovery, and rebuild confidence in not only the United States economy, but the global economy as well.
Entrepreneur Nation – The Voice
Published March 5, 2009 |
The voice of entrepreneurs in the economy is a quiet voice, although their collective voice is several million entrepreneurs quietly working hard every day to operate and maintain their businesses. Maybe it’s not such a quiet voice since the economic engine is heard loud and clear for those who take the time to listen, but right now it is being drowned out by the special interest groups that own congressional members and the White House including labor unions and big business that have seen their better days and now only serve to be a major drag on the rest of the economy, because they proportionally demand too much from the people of the United States to just survive, and in their quest for survival they are going to bring every corner of the economy down.
Many everyday common business names that many of us have grown up with, and developed the mind-set that they would be around forever, will be forced to close, while others will be able to reinvent themselves in time to adapt to the ever changing markets and trends.
This is the time for entrepreneur nation to shine, since innovation and opportunity are its cornerstones, and as many businesses are forced out of business because consumers that make up the markets have quit spending, and are currently idling in save mode, or paying off their tremendous share of debt built up over the past 20 years.
It is natural that these businesses, with extremely weak and unfavorable balance sheet and cash flow positions, are too weak to continue operating in today’s environment, and should execute their exit strategies if they have any, and new entrepreneurs and investors with good balance sheet and cash flow positions take their place and seize opportunities to meet future demands as markets recover, and develop new innovations to improve services and products. It is unnatural for the tremendously bloated spending and associated debt being accumulated by result of funding businesses which need to close, or be reinvented or scrapped altogether, to make room for new breeds of entrepreneurs and business that can meet demands, and change quickly to meet new trends as soon as they are identified. It makes more sense to provide this type of funding to growing businesses with more solid financial positions and detailed business plans to create wealth, jobs and more opportunities.
The Effect of the Economy on eCommerce
Published January 17, 2009 | 
Unless you’ve been marooned on a deserted island, or isolated deep in the Amazon rain forest, you are aware the news about the economy is not good. The main question to “webtrepreneurs”, entrepreneurs using the World Wide Web for eCommerce is how does the current economy affect the Internet?
Recession is a relatively ugly word that has been referred to with great regularity the past several months, and appears to be quite relevant depending on where you live and work. The real estate industry is at its lowest point in years, the value of the dollar is way down, and unemployment is creeping up. It makes you wonder why anyone would want to be President, and do the candidates have any idea about what they’re really getting into. But that’s another discussion.
On a more relevant and practical level, the question for anyone with an online business is how will the state of the economy affect them? The same question exists no matter what state the economy is in; good, bad, or so-so. And with the mixed bag the Internet always presents, you have to look for the silver linings.
What you have to remember with the Internet is that business results tend to happen at a fast pace, unlike brick and mortar businesses that see delays in trends of months sometime, Internet trends quickly make themselves evident, and any drop in demands for products or services is felt in a very short time, sometimes a matter of days.
First, let’s examine the bad affects of the slowing economy, which leads to one very predictable action; a downturn in spending. It’s a widely recognized fact that when people are not confident about the future, they tend to hold on to their money. And this of course means the general trend will be fewer dollars spent at many online businesses; even more true if the products and services offered are not necessities of life.
There is a silver lining however, as the slowing eCommerce leads to some positive results, one being less competition, since many competitors will disappear as a result greatly reduced marketing efforts to preserve cash flow. Take this opportunity to seize market share through fine-tuned search engine optimization, since when online businesses reduce their optimization efforts, the results are lost rankings with the search engines, and you can take their place.
Included in the silver lining is how changing consumer shopping habits will eventually increase Internet traffic even further.
Remember the economy is dynamic, and naturally goes up and down, so try not to get to stressed about the downturn and take the opportunity to put in place the tasks you need to accomplish to maintain optimal search engine optimization, and keep traffic flowing to your site regardless what state the economy is in, and with time the economy will experience strong growth again.